Friday, 15 May 2009

Spring frenzy

Dear Cassie,

So the spring - almost summer - has come into these furthest corners of the northern hemisphere. My lake was freed from the ice last weekend and since then I have had very hard time going to bed at nights. I have kept looking at the opposite shore being lit by the last rays of sun and its glorious reflection on the calm surface in windless nights; or kept listening to the lullaby of breaking waves in less quiet evenings. I have stayed up late to wake up by the alarm clock after so short sleep that my body would have loved to stay under the covers but have gotten up to catch the morning chorus of birds. I just love this season.

After the long and dark winter all of a sudden the world is full of noises and and the scenery is slowly changing from one color scheme into the other. It is almost like somebody has taken a box of crayons and is filling this canvas little by little.

Do you remember Quilter Anna Williams? (I know you do, but I could not think of any other sentence here...) Long time ago she and her work was featured in American Quilter and I was touched by her work.

It reminds me a lot of these rag rugs that were and still are woven in Finland, some of them, and the most beautiful ones, are made with whatever is at hand at home. Rags are collected for years and then a long warp is set to a loom and rug after another is woven until the warp is used. Often a lot is left over as a seed for the next crop of rags.

When I saw the quilts of Anna Williams I was inspired to make this blue log cabin called "The village is asleep". (This hangs on the wall in my house but it is very difficult to photograph in its place so I scanned it from a magazine. It was on the cover page of Finn Quilt, a Finnish magazine. It consists mostly of news inside Finnish quilting world.)For some reason, maybe it is spring to blame here, but I have been overwhelmed by the possibilities of the fabric stash. As the spring proceeds and new colors appear in the nature, I keep introducing new colors into this quilt.This looks a bit wild but I do love these bits and pieces collected over the years. Some of the fabrics are new, some are very old, but not older than my marriage. I could tell my life's story by telling you about some of these fabrics and when and where they were bought and for what intention they were bought...I have been cutting these strips and have them stored in one big container and pick one - whatever happens to please my mood right at that second - and then carry on.

I manage http://stashmanicure.blogspot.com and I am always seeking guest bloggersto post...6 x a week we have the most unique, spirited and creative sewers and quiltersI can find...

Today led me to you..if ever you would like to join in, by all means please let me know..You can chat about your fav quilt, do a tut, show a trunk show...as long as you have lots of pics and stories to tell ....136,000 visitors per month will no doubt welcome you withall the warmth they can muster..